That Old Black Magic by Louis Prima & Keely Smith

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 22 · Sections: 9

Form: Intro → Verse → Verse → Bridge → Interlude → Verse → Bridge → Interlude → Verse

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). This page shows that transcription as-is: the analysis below is generated directly from it by code, not written by AI. Consecutive repeats of a chord are shown once, and the piano voicings are our playable arrangement of each chord symbol, not a note-for-note transcription.

Section by section

Intro

• C
  I

Verse 1

• C – Dm7 – C
  I – ii7 – I

Verse 2

• C – F – Fm/A♭ – C6/G – Cdim – Dm7 – G7 – C
  I – IV – iv⁶ – I6 (bass G) – i° – ii7 – V7 – I

Bridge 1

• Am – B7 – E7 – A7 – Dm7 – Fm6 – Dm7♭5
  vi – VII7 – III7 – VI7 – ii7 – iv6 – iiø7

Interlude 1

• C
  I

Verse 3

• C – C7 – F – Dm – Dm7/A – Fm6/A♭ – Em7/G – F♯dim – Dm7 – Dm7♭5 – C – Dm7 – Dm7♭5 – Dm7 – G7sus4 – C – Dm7 – Dm7♭5 – Dm7 – C
  I – I7 – IV – ii – ii⁴₃ – iv6 (bass A♭) – iii⁶₅ – #iv° – ii7 – iiø7 – I – ii7 – iiø7 – ii7 – V7sus4 – I – ii7 – iiø7 – ii7 – I

Bridge 2

Same chords as Bridge 1.

Interlude 2

Same chords as Interlude 1.

Verse 4

• C – C7 – F – Dm – F6/A – Fm6/A♭ – Em7/G – F♯dim – Dm7 – Ddim – G7
  I – I7 – IV – ii – IV6 (bass A) – iv6 (bass A♭) – iii⁶₅ – #iv° – ii7 – ii° – V7
• C – Dm7 – Dm7♭5 – Dm7 (×2)
  I – ii7 – iiø7 – ii7
• C – Dm7 – Dm7♭5 – C
  I – ii7 – iiø7 – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• Fm/A♭ (iv⁶) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Fm6 (iv6) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Dm7♭5 (iiø7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Fm6/A♭ (iv6 (bass A♭)) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Ddim (ii°) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• A7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Dm7.
• C7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to F.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0746, CC0), via ChoCo.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.